Advice for painting?

[yungupgrade]

Trying to tackle painting my MJ..... never done this before and it seems super overwhelming. I have some panels that have really good paint, clear coat is still intact etc, and other panels that have faded clear coats with rust spots. The worst paint on a panel I have has paint flaking off from the primer, which you can see exposed underneath. I know for rust spots I have to sand down to metal and apply filler but for the paint what grits do I start at? From my understanding, paint that's still in good shape shouldn't need a lot of sanding so I should use a finer grit (600-800?). With the non clear coat/ flaking paint, I should start with a more abrasive grit (320?) and go to a finer one (800?). Is this the right approach?

[pizzaman09]

I have learned the hard way, use a rust converter to fix rusty spots.  If you sand down to metal and then use filler to bring it back up to height, it will immediately start rusting their again.  I recommend a product like Loctite rust converting primer, follow the directions exactly and you'll be super happy.  Then you can fill, sand paint.  

 

I spent a month this summer repeating rust repair work I did in 2020 in my rust old M3 because I didn't use rust converter back then.

 

With respect to the full vehicle repaint, doing the whole vehicle instead of just certain parts makes it easier as you don't have to match or blend the color.

[yungupgrade]

10 minutes ago, pizzaman09 said:

I have learned the hard way, use a rust converter to fix rusty spots.  If you sand down to metal and then use filler to bring it back up to height, it will immediately start rusting their again.  I recommend a product like Loctite rust converting primer, follow the directions exactly and you'll be super happy.  Then you can fill, sand paint.  

 

I spent a month this summer repeating rust repair work I did in 2020 in my rust old M3 because I didn't use rust converter back then.

 

With respect to the full vehicle repaint, doing the whole vehicle instead of just certain parts makes it easier as you don't have to match or blend the color.

That's my plan. It doesn't need to look good, just protect the metal. I'll eventually repaint it better when I'm older with more money and facilities.

[ghetdjc320]

Before going down this path I have to ask, do you have a good size compressor (flowing about 13cfm at 45psi), a sealed garage and or some place to use as a temporary paint booth, an hvlp sprayer with 1.8-1.4 fluid tips, DA sanders, sanding blocks, respirator? 
 

There are so many different levels of paint jobs depending on what equipment you have on hand. You can get good results with enough effort but we kind of need to know where you’re at equipment wise to recommend the right process. Otherwise one might spend a lot of coin on good products but without the proper equipment to apply it, you may end up wasting it. 
 

As for rusty areas, you do need to get that down to clean bare metal. Once that’s done, use 2 part epoxy primer (available in spray cans from some auto paint suppliers). If you have an hvlp speayer, you can spray the mixed epoxy primer with a 1.8 tip. Spray the epoxy directly to bare metal before doing any filler work. Once filler work is done and you have it all blocked and smooth, spray a reduced 2 part epoxy primer as a sealer to create a uniform color for your base coat. 
 

Take your time prepping and masking off all your surfaces. Use actual automotive masking tape and not hardware store home painters tape. I normally start with 120 to 180 and work my way up to 400 for the final sanding pre-primer. 

[yungupgrade]

52 minutes ago, ghetdjc320 said:

Before going down this path I have to ask, do you have a good size compressor (flowing about 13cfm at 45psi), a sealed garage and or some place to use as a temporary paint booth, an hvlp sprayer with 1.8-1.4 fluid tips, DA sanders, sanding blocks, respirator? 
 

There are so many different levels of paint jobs depending on what equipment you have on hand. You can get good results with enough effort but we kind of need to know where you’re at equipment wise to recommend the right process. Otherwise one might spend a lot of coin on good products but without the proper equipment to apply it, you may end up wasting it. 
 

As for rusty areas, you do need to get that down to clean bare metal. Once that’s done, use 2 part epoxy primer (available in spray cans from some auto paint suppliers). If you have an hvlp speayer, you can spray the mixed epoxy primer with a 1.8 tip. Spray the epoxy directly to bare metal before doing any filler work. Once filler work is done and you have it all blocked and smooth, spray a reduced 2 part epoxy primer as a sealer to create a uniform color for your base coat. 
 

Take your time prepping and masking off all your surfaces. Use actual automotive masking tape and not hardware store home painters tape. I normally start with 120 to 180 and work my way up to 400 for the final sanding pre-primer. 

I do not have a compressor or sprayer at the moment but I would have to buy one from harbor freight. I have a friend who owns a 3 gallon which is no where near enough. I do have a place that I can use as a temp paint booth. I have a respirator and painting coveralls. I have a 5 in orbital sander. All my panels and bed aside from the cab are not attached to my truck right now so I would be doing them piece by piece. I could buy sanding blocks from HF as well. 

 

In the event I cannot buy a compressor, I am not opposed to a rattle can job. Obviously this is not going to come out the best but I intend to wheel this thing a bit anyway so I don't want something I'll feel bad about scratching up. I just don't want it to look awful with rust flaking off while I'm driving down the road. Lol. If you have tips on doing it that way I wouldn't mind going that route. It may be cheaper compared to buying the equipment and paint needed for a compressor job.

 

I do intended to POR15 the frame as well but the prep for that is far easier/straightforward than body panels.

 

[ghetdjc320]

You could probably rent a decent compressor for a day or two. For a trail rig I’d go single stage urethane vs base/clear. Use 2-part epoxy primer on bare metal before doing any filler work. Then shoot the same 2k primer reduced a bit as a sealer to seal all your body work and layers of previous finish.